Jets running back Michael Carter says he “never” thought of himself this season as a rookie. 

Carter, the fourth-round pick out of North Carolina, has scored four touchdowns over the past six games. He leads the team with 367 rushing yards, while adding 306 more through the air on 31 receptions. 

“I never did, and all the guys know that,” he said when asked after practice Thursday if he still feels like a rookie nine games into his NFL career. “They’d be like, ‘What’s up, rook?’ I’d say, ‘I’m not a rookie, it’s just my first year.’ That’s what I always tell them. I’m not joking neither. 

“I never really felt like a rookie. They drafted me to play.” 

Offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur has been especially impressed by the first-year back’s continued ability to stay on his feet after contact. 

“His balance, as you guys have seen, it’s pretty incredible,” LaFleur said. “He just doesn’t go down usually from the first contact, and it’s not because he’s Jerome Bettis with people bouncing off him. He’s just a slippery dude, with great contact balance and a will and a want. 

“He’s a dude you root for, and it’s cool to watch the production he’s having. I think there’s a lot of good days ahead for him.” 

Asked about 36-year-old quarterback Joe Flacco, who will start this week, Carter said he “fits right in like a puzzle piece” and that he’s “just a cool guy … like the other side of the pillow.” He then shouted out late ESPN broadcaster Stuart Scott for the latter part of that quote.

LaFleur said he spoke Wednesday night with backup quarterback Mike White, who is being replaced by Flacco after throwing four interceptions in Sunday’s loss to the Bills. 

“As a coach of his, shoot, as a friend, you want to see guys battle through adversity. And we didn’t play well,” LaFleur said. “Mike’s the type of competitor that when you don’t play well as an offense, he’s going to put it on himself, regardless of whatever else happened. There’s so many variables when you don’t play very well as an offense. … So you want to see him come back and bounce back. 

“Obviously we made the decision as a staff and as an organization that we’re standing by, to go with Joe, but that’s what I felt for the most part, taking some heat for how the game went, but again, it’s all 11 [players]. I could go down the list of why we didn’t play well as an offense, starting with me. We didn’t get the job done, and I didn’t get the job done of putting these guys in position to be successful.”